By Katie Schubert
Omaha, NE – Monday's heavy rainfall caused damage at five of Omaha's 11 lift stations.
Nearly five inches of rain fell in parts of the city early Monday morning. That caused road closures and significant flooding in downtown Omaha, including TD Ameritrade Park and the CenturyLink Center.
Marty Grate is environmental services manager for Omaha Public Works. Grate says the flooding wasn't caused by overtopping of Omaha's levee. Rather, a variety of factors were in play, including groundwater levels. "When it rains, there's just not much soil for anything to soak in to, because the groundwater is already up there near the surface. We also have waste water. It's not a big contributor to the amount of water, but it certainly causes water quality concerns and therefore makes it important that we deal properly with this."
Grate says storm water was also a factor. The Burt-Izard lift station along the Omaha riverfront drains storm water from a five square mile area.
Grate says all 95 pumps installed throughout the city to remove flood water worked during Monday's storm.